The power of a name
by ToastyTamLin
Summary: Harry and Hermione discuss the possibilities of spellcrafting, and come to a terrifying conclusion.


_So this little snippet came about from me wondering what spells actually are in Rowling's universe. It's clear there is more to it than people just instructing their magic to do things. My interpretation is similar to a computer program. And then I got to wondering what implications that could have, and about the peculiar fear of the word 'Voldemort'..._

"Huh - I think I've done it..."

"Done what, Harry?"

"Well, you know I got interested in spell-crafting over the summer?"

"You've made your first spell?" Asked Hermione.

"Nah, I've made a few simple spells now. But I got to wondering about the requirement for a wand."

"Harry, you must know that, surely? A spell is like a standardised bundle of magic, and a wand matches with the wielder's magic to get the combined magical signature as close as possible to the standard."

"Yeah, yeah. And the incantation and wand movements are part of the package. I know all that. But it got me thinking, what if you could do away with the wand requirement by making the spell package adapt itself when it's learnt? Then you'd have a wandless spell!"

"I think I see what you mean. Does it really work?"

"I think it should, and I'm hoping you'll test it. Here, I've got the explanation written down, and I just embedded the spell in it."

Hermione read the short explanation. It seemed Harry's prototype was a basic light spell, with a rather strange incantation. The way the magic settled in her as she read was different from any other spell she had learnt. Stronger somehow, if that made any sense for a sensation that was normally barely perceptible and defied explanation.

"Okay, here goes. *Lighto*" Hermione uttered, flicking her finger upwards.

Sure enough, her finger light up with a bright yellow glow.

"Harry, this is incredible! The reason wandless magic is so hard is that you can't rely on crafted spells, and have to essentially reinvent everything for yourself. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?"

"Maybe they have, and kept it to themselves. You could probably do some pretty devious things with it."

"Yes, I suppose if You Know Who came up with something he wouldn't exactly spread it around."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Call Voldemort 'You Know Who'? You're muggleborn, so you weren't brought up to fear him."

"I... don't know. Now I think of it, you and Dumbledore are the only people I know who use his name."

"Well, it's like Dumbledore says. Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself. Calling him that only increases his power over us."

"Hmmm..." Hermione hummed in thought. "Hey, what if we take that literally!"

"What do you mean?"

"What if saying the name literally increases people's fear of him? Like a wandless spell?"

"Damn. It would have to have some sort of compulsion to make people choose that over his name. It would spread like a virus. That's... genius. But how come I can say Voldemort?"

"Well, you don't become a dark lord by being stupid. And you can throw off H...His Imperius curse. A subtle compulsion would be no problem for you."

"True. But why would he bother?"

"Maybe to see if he could? It actually reminds me of the old practice of not uttering the name of god."

"Maybe that's what he fancies himself. He did rise from the dead after all. Hah - bone of the father gives rise to the son from an unholy ghost."

"It does make you wonder. There's nothing in the myths that a powerful wizard couldn't do. My grandparents used to take me along to church until I decided I didn't believe any of it. And now I reckon I could probably pull off most of Jesus' miracles. Apart from messing with the dead."

"So maybe it's part of his play for immortality. Perhaps he found a way to make the active avoidance of his name give him power."

"How on earth do we fight that?" Asked Hermione. "There are only a handful of people in the country who can resist it!"

"Well, I suppose we could fight fire with fire. Figure out a wandless viral spell that overwrites the compulsion with one to say 'Moldyshorts'. Maybe add in something that gives a tiny burst of courage."

"Wow - the capacity for abuse is massive! If it's possible, why hasn't he made more use of it?"

"Maybe he has. Perhaps that's why the wizarding world is so shortsighted and fickle. Maybe all sorts of people have discovered this independently, and find it too useful to make public."

"I can see that being quite a tool for a government. Bind a burst of fear to 'Azkaban', and trust to 'auror' or 'Wizengamot'. It would make for a population subtly biased towards the staus quo."

"Fuck. I think what we need is an anti-viral spell that cancels out any others that might be running around. Let's get to work..."


End file.
